Herbal Sex Pills Not Quite Safe
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by Anna Boyd 15:58, November 13th 2007

Pills marketed as safe herbal alternatives to prescription sex
medication such as Viagra are not as innocuous as consumers may
think, an investigation conducted by the Associated Press found.

Impotency products heralded as "all-natural" and bearing labels
abundant in herbal ingredients also include unregulated versions of
precisely the chemicals they are supposed to replace, the Associated
Press reports.

These chemicals clash with nitrates millions of men around the world
take in prescribed drugs for high blood pressure and heart disease,
and often lead to a heart attack or stroke.

The AP says that its investigation emphasizes a growing public health
concern that officials do not yet know how to track or ameliorate.
This could prove difficult, as herbal impotency pills are much sought
after – as sales worth approximately $400 million in 2006 prove.

At greatest risk are men who take nitrates and are well aware that
prescription sex medication like Viagra, Cialis or Levitra is not
recommended for them, should they wish to enhance their sexual
performance.

James Neal-Kababick, director of Oregon-based Flora Research
Laboratories, told the AP that about 90 percent of the hundreds of
samples he has analyzed contained forms of patented pharmaceuticals.
Some of these presented doses more than twice that of prescription
erectile dysfunction medicine.

No deaths have been reported, yet all-natural sex pills have caused
numerous emergency room visits, the AP notes.

Older men, more likely to have heart or blood pressure problems as
well as erectile dysfunctions, are not the only ones that suffer
unanticipated side effects of herbal pills.

The wire service reports that records of emergency room visits showed
men in their 30s, in good health, nevertheless suffered after taking
herbal sex pills, presenting side effects of the active ingredients
in regulated impotency pharmaceuticals, such as difficulty seeing
clearly or severe headaches.

Public health officials consider that these cases could be vastly
underreported, with patients too embarrassed to share such
experiences.

Sales of supplements marketed as natural sexual enhancers have been
riding a good wave over the past years, rising $100 million since
2001, to an astounding $398 million last year, including herbal
mixtures, according to estimates by Nutrition Business Journal, the
AP reports.

Some encouragement comes from the fact that not all sellers
advertising "magical" sexual enhancement are roaming freely on the
Internet, where most "herbal" pills are sold. According to the AP,
the U. S. Food and Drug Administration has been instrumental in eight
recalls over the past year. The recalled products contained
ingredients found in Viagra, Cialis or Levitra.

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